How to Dispute and Appeal an Auto Insurance Claim (2024)

Getting into an auto accident and going through the process of filing an auto insurance claim can be a major headache if you don’t have all your ducks in a row.

Even worse is finding out you won’t have the coverage you need, and your claim is being denied. Claims can be denied for a lot of reasons, but the good news is that you can appeal. So do you know how to dispute and appeal an auto insurance claim? We’ll explain below.

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How to Appeal an Auto Insurance Claim That’s Been Denied

If you’ve had to file a car insurance claim denied by your insurance company, you may wonder what your rights are, and how you can appeal.

There is a list of steps you can take to appeal your auto insurance claim. They include the following:

• Review your claim denial or settlement offer letter. It’s important to understand the insurance company’s stance on your claim. Usually, it’ll point out why they made the decision they did and it might give you a starting point for refuting the denial or lowball settlement offer.
• Research your auto insurance claims rights. Knowing your rights will put you in a better position to appeal your claim.
• Write a Claims Appeal Letter. Once you’ve reviewed the information contained in the auto insurance claim denial, start gathering the information you need to dispute the insurance claim and write your claims appeal letter.

Once you’ve written your claims appeal letter, it’s time to provide all of your evidence to dispute your claim.

Each state has a different statute of limitations. Let’s look at a summary of the statute of limitations of every state.

Statute of Limitations for Auto Insurance Claims by State

You see how the statutes are different for each state. If you’re ever in an accident out of your home state, research the statute of limitations in case your claim is denied or if you have to pursue legal action.

Evidence for Disputing Insurance Claims and Payouts

Once you’ve gathered enough evidence, you’ll need to provide it to the insurance company to dispute your claim. Some of the evidence might include:

• Dates
• Receipts
• Physical and digital copies of documents related to your claim
• Photos of property damage and injuries
• Invoices from medical providers and auto repair shops

The more information you have, the smoother the claims process will go. Sometimes, a claim is denied solely because of missing information. So make sure you have all of the information you need to submit to the insurance company to dispute your claim.

Common Denial Reasons

• The claim exceeds the policy limits
• You weren’t named on the insurance policy
• You missed a payment or filing deadline for the claim
• You were at fault in the accident

Make sure none of this applies to you before you file an appeal.  

To prevent your claim from being denied, you can do the following:

• Choose a higher coverage level
• Add drivers to your policy
• Update your auto insurance company with any changes

Doing the above can help decrease the chances of your claim being denied.

When you enroll in an auto insurance policy, you’ll have something called a coverage limit or coverage rule. Each coverage limit varies by state. The Insurance Information Institute lists these coverage limits on its website, and we’ll summarize that information in a table below.

Minimum Auto Insurance Coverage Requirements by State

Notice a lot of acronyms? Here’s what they stand for: BI stands for bodily injury, PD is property damage, Liab is liability, PIP is personal injury protection, medical payments are labeled as Med Pay, UM is uninsured motorist, and UIM is underinsured motorist.

When a Claim is Denied by an Underinsured At-Fault Driver 

In some cases, you might face a situation where you’re not at fault and the other party’s insurance denied the claim. In that case, you’ll want your insurance company to go to work for you.

Claims might be denied because the at-fault driver’s car insurance coverage doesn’t cover bodily injury or property damage. That’s when underinsured motorist insurance kicks in.

Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) pays costs for you, the no-fault driver when the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough to cover the damages. If your claim is denied by the company of an underinsured at-fault driver then your auto insurance company can often work with you to help appeal the auto insurance claim decision.

Learn How to Appeal an Auto Insurance Claim 

It is possible to appeal a decision from your car insurance company if you’re not satisfied with their settlement offer or if they have denied your claim for reasons you don’t think apply to your situation. You will need to gather documents and information to support your appeal, and you may need to engage a lawyer. 

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